Friday, April 9, 2010

Here's a little Carmen Miranda doing a Portuguese version of Chattanooga Choo-Choo to celebrate the coming of the weekend and all the new visitors to the blog. I hope you find the information here useful. Don't be afraid to comment!

The Downtown Jewel Neighborhood Association has chosen to revitalize the landscaping at the Lucerne Avenue Post Office for our next Community Project. We envision this as a 'city-wide' endeavor and invite the participation of all citizens and businesses.

For more information please click title to see and download a copy of the attached PDF flyer or contact Sandy Weston at 586-4615.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

If you can make it tonight, and especially if you live in the area west of City Hall and then north and south of there, you should come to this meeting to hear about the NSP2 $23 million grant program. This is an ambitious program that has the potential to substantially improve an area of the city in need of stabilization. There are those that get uncomfortable with that, namely Commissioners Jo Ann Golden and Cara Jennings. Commissioner Golden questioned the CRA about going for the grant saying that we know how to spend money better than the Federal government, then she used it as an accomplishment in her campaign literature. There are communities that would fall all over themselves about the prospect of what this money would do for their housing stock and residential neighborhoods..

If you can't make this meeting or are more interested in historic preservation, you can take in the Planning and Zoning Board meeting. They will be talking about possible separation of the functions of the board - Planning and Zoning pealed away from Historic Preservation duties. Former PZHRPB Chairman Frank Palen and author of the city's historic preservation code will be doing a Power Point presentation that explores the nitty grtty of local historic preservation and where Lake Worth should fit in to the bigger picture. The PZHRPB meeting is at the same time as the NSP2 meeting and is in the Commission Chambers.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Interesting read from the Palm Beach Daily News (Shiny Sheet) regarding changes in pensions for Town of Palm Beach employees. Click title for link. In her most recent City Manager Report (April 2), Ms. Stanton uses the Town of Palm Beach example of how to potentially model changes for Lake Worth. The article recounts a Town Council meeting that dealt with the topic and they heard employees reactions.

Two items came up under public comment which are of interest and supported by Commissioner Maxwell. One was the solicitation of workers to count for the Census by the City's Complete Count Committee (Annabeth Karson and Company.) The person commenting asked about the legality of that, since it involved advocating for a cause in addition to collecting Census forms. This gave Commissioner Jennings an opportunity to say that she is for immigration and this group is working to count areas of the city that have been difficult to count before. She was not a member of the "Florida New Majority" - but she shares their views and goals. Commissioner Golden echoed the same thoughts and indicated full support of Ms. Karson.

The other matter related to Commissioner Maxwell's pulling the meeting minutes from 1/12 Special Meeting - the one that concerned the previous matter and the selection of the group to head up the Complete Count Committee. Near the end of that meeting, Commissioner Jennings said that she meant to mention that Annabeth Karson contributed to her campaign and she would like that inserted into the section where the discussion of the item took place. Discussion tonight settled on whether it was alright to change the order of events in a meeting. The minutes reflect the following wording:

This gave Commissioner Jennings a chance to say that she went "over and above the law" to declare campaign contributions related to certain agenda items.

Unfortunately, whether or not someone contributes $5 or $500 shouldn't influence whether you vote for or against someone who contributes to your campaign. If it does, then our problems are deeper than we suspected. The real conflicts come, and this is state law, where there is a familial or business or contractual relationship where a gain or a loss would be experienced either by the person voting or a person or organization one has an on-going relationship with you as a voting member of an elected or appointed body. Now, with Planning and Zoning, if there is a specific property involved and a specific owner, and they contributed to your campaign, that should be voluntarily disclosed.

Think about how many in-direct impacts there are on a wide variety of topics in the city. Think also about needing to review each campaign report for each decision. I just don't think the cost is worth the benefit.

Remember how no one seemed to have a problem with Commissioner Golden interviewing her employer for a CRA position. Now that is a real conflict, but it was waved on as not needing to be declared a conflict. Oh well.

It's been a while since we had a regular City Commission meeting since the second one in March was cancelled. Here is tonight's agenda. Click here for link to agenda with back-up material (click on line items once the agenda appears)

Monday, April 5, 2010

It's time for the 3rd Annual Shade Tree Give-Away!The Lake Worth City Tree Board will be giving away native trees on Saturday May 1st from 8:30am till noon at the City Hall parking lot at 7 North Dixie Hwy.Also the Highland Elementary School will be at the parking lot selling plants to support their garden projects.Only residents with in the city limits are eligible to receive a free tree so bring your proof of residency such as a current utility bill or drivers license.

Tell your neighbors and everyone you know living in Lake Worth to stop by and get a tree.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

From the liner notes:
Subject: The Devil Meets the Average Homeowner
This animated film features an average fellow who meets the Devil (or his envoy, anyway), who has a plan to turn his nice neighborhood into a slum. The devilish character tells the homeowner all about the recent transformation of Paradise Gardens, a housing development that the homeownerâs grandfather used to live in, from a suburb to a slum, and how the homeownerâs neighborhood is right on schedule in his slum transformation book. The homeowner bucks the devilâs urban planner by stealing his book and going to the city council to try to get them to take steps to prevent the creation of further slums. Predictably, the council thinks the guy is a crackpot and throws him out, while the landlords buck for no change at all. However, when the homeowner uses the stolen book to accurately predict the fall of an old decrepit factory chimney, he gets public support, and the whole town ends up working together to drive the devil's envoy out of town by fixing up their neighborhoods. This is a fun film to watch because the animation is well done, the visuals, especially of slums, are dark and striking, and the story is lively. It predictably oversimplifies the problems of urban renewal, but at least it emphasizes the importance of collective action being essential for any real change to happen, which is a change from many films of its period, which tend to blame individuals. The film has historical value in documenting the attitudes promoted by the early urban renewal movement.